Shin Godzilla
Shin Godzilla (シン・ゴジラ Shin Gojira) is a kaiju that appeared in the 2016 Godzilla film, Shin Godzilla. It is the eleventh onscreen incarnation of the character. This was the tallest incarnation of Godzilla in film as of the release of Shin Godzilla, but was surpassed by the Godzilla from the GODZILLA anime trilogy. Shin Godzilla is unique among most other Godzilla incarnations in that he is a completely new species spawned by nuclear waste dumping, rather than an ancient creature roused by nuclear testing. Shin Godzilla was mutated by feeding on nuclear waste dumped into Tokyo Bay in the 1950's, which gave it the unusual ability to mutate its own DNA and rapidly evolve itself to adapt to new situations. Shin Godzilla remained underwater until 2016, when it suddenly developed legs and came ashore in Tokyo, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Godzilla evolved once again into a third form before returning to the ocean. It later returned in a larger fourth form, which annihilated a large portion of Tokyo with atomic rays generated by its body before entering a state of hibernation. Anticipating a nuclear strike against Tokyo by the U.S. to destroy Godzilla before he reawakened, a ragtag team of Japanese bureaucrats and volunteers enacted a complex plan codenamed Operation Yashiori, which succeeded in disabling Godzilla's blood cooling system and freezing him solid. While Godzilla was halted for the time being, the American government warned that the nuclear strike would commence once he began moving again. Name In Shin Godzilla, Godzilla is mostly referred to as Gojira (呉爾羅), a name given to him by zoologist Goro Maki, which in his native Odo Island dialect of Japanese means "Incarnation of God" (神の化身 Kami no Keshin), and also serves as the monster's subtitle. Maki also gave the monster the English name of "Godzilla," which was adopted by the American Department of Energy to refer to him. Once the Japanese government learns of the creature's name, they change the kanji spelling of its name to katakana (ゴジラ), though it is still pronounced Gojira. Uniquely among all other incarnations of Godzilla, this version of the character is primarily referred to by his Japanese name Gojira in the film's English subtitles and dub rather than by his English name. Prior to learning of the name "Gojira," the Japanese government gives Godzilla the designation of "Giant Unidentified Life Form" (巨大不明生物 Kyodai Fumei Seibutsu). Toho officially classifies this incarnation of Godzilla as Shin Godzilla (シン・ゴジラ Shin Gojira), which is also the Japanese title of the film in which it appeared. Godzilla's forms are all officially named through simple numbered designations for each form: Godzilla First Form (ゴジラ第一形態 Gojira Dai Ichi Keitai), Godzilla Second Form (ゴジラ第二形態 Gojira Dai Ni Keitai), Godzilla Third Form (ゴジラ第三形態 Gojira Dai San Keitai), and Godzilla Fourth Form (ゴジラ第四形態 Gojira Dai Shi Keitai). In the book The Art of Shin Godzilla, the humanoid creatures seen on Godzilla's tail at the end of the film are referred to as Godzilla Fifth Form (ゴジラ第五形態 Gojira Dai Go Keitai). Godzilla's second, third and fourth forms in the film have fan-made nicknames, all named after where they first appeared. The second form is referred to as Kamata-kun (蒲田くん) after Kamata, the third form is nicknamed Shinagawa-kun (品川くん) after Shinagawa, and the fourth form's most common fan alias is Kamakura-san (鎌倉さん) after the city of Kamakura. All terms were originally popularized by a Japanese Twitter user.6 Before the nicknames were popularized, Godzilla's second form was also called "That guy from Kamata" (蒲田のあいつ Kamata no aitsu).7 In Godziban, Godzilla's second form is instead nicknamed Kamatte-kun (カマッテくん), after the Japanese word kamatte (構って), meaning "attention," which appears in the name of his segment, Attention! Godzilla (かまって！ゴジラ Kamatte Gojira). In Japanese, "kamatte-kun" (構って君), or "kamatte-chan" (構ってちゃん), may be used as terms for someone who is an attention-seeker, befitting of the character's role in the series. Development When Toho announced Shinji Higuchi as the co-director of Shin Godzilla, he affirmed, "Next year, we'll deliver to everyone the greatest worst nightmare!"8 Mahiro Maeda, who had previously worked with Higuchi on Ultraman Powered and the Heisei Gamera trilogy, designed the new Godzilla. Originally, Hideaki Anno and Higuchi wanted a conventional Godzilla to mutate over the course of the film, resulting in some of the wildest concept art in the entire series, but Toho vetoed this idea. However, they found they could still get away with unusual designs so long as they evolved into a more traditional form, and they enjoyed relative freedom in giving Godzilla new abilities.9 Takayuki Takeya sculpted the maquettes for Godzilla's second, third, and fourth forms. The only physical Godzilla prop in the film appears in the final shot, a model of Godzilla's tail sporting the creature's fifth form that was also sculpted by Takayuki Takeya. According to VFX supervisor and lead editor Atsuki Sato, the design team initially wanted to make Godzilla feel more like a living creature, but Anno decided that the monster should have the texture of rubber instead.11 Shin Godzilla would turn out to be the first Japanese Godzilla depicted primarily through CGI, as Higuchi feared that modern audiences would find a suitmation Godzilla "boring."9 CGI also gave the filmmakers more freedom with Godzilla's tail, as it would no longer have to be operated with wires.12 Still, Higuchi wanted to pay tribute to the previous films by having Godzilla still portrayed by an actor, in this case through motion-capture. Mansai Nomura, an actor Higuchi had directed in The Floating Castle, was chosen for the role. Nomura is best-known for his work in kyogen, a traditional form of Japanese stage comedy. Though it was unnecessary for the motion-capture process, Nomura asked to wear a wooden mask, as he would if he was playing an inhuman character in the theater.9 A bluescreen prop of Godzilla's second form was used for a shot involving miniatures. Leaked set photos and official behind-the-scenes footage revealed the existence of an animatronic puppet of Godzilla's upper body, which ultimately went unused. A cut sequence showed the 3rd form Godzilla expelling super-heated red body fluid from his mouth and gills, flooding the surrounding area and melting the tires of cars, causing them to wobble into the ground. Anno and Higuchi shot footage of eyeballs and fangs sprouting from pieces of Godzilla's flesh blasted off by the stealth bomber attack, which was excluded from the final film. Design : Main article: ShinGoji. Godzilla's first form is unseen in the film, aside from its tail and part of its back. The tail is reddish in color, while its back is covered in tan dorsal fins. Godzilla's second form, which is a dim yellow-green or light brown, and officially described as having the head of an eel shark, is unlike any other version of Godzilla in that he leans almost completely forward, and his shoulder height is less than one fourth of his length. This form in addition has undeveloped stumps for arms (his forearms being extremely small and completely attached to his upper arms), huge googly-eyes, very visible red gills that hang from his neck, a gaping open mouth, tan dorsal plates, a long tail, and comparatively large hind legs which manage to support him. The third form stands upright, is a dull dark red or brown color, and is almost twice as tall as the previous form. It has almost-white dorsal plates, and blood-red coloration running down its back under the plates from the heat it generates. Additionally, it now possesses small forearms and its legs are more stretched out as a result of standing upright. The fourth form bears much more resemblance to past Godzilla designs than the previous forms, though it does bear some differences. The fourth form is reminiscent of the original 1954 Godzilla design, with a rounded head with small beady eyes and black, scarred and bumpy skin. This form's dorsal plates are black in color and much larger than the previous form, and also possess red scales on them reminiscent of keloid scars. Godzilla's mouth is full of crooked and incredibly large teeth, some of which are growing from the flesh outside of his mouth. When Godzilla fires his atomic breath, his upper jaw unhinges from his lower jaw, which splits open. The eyes are small compared to the previous forms, and appear sunken into their sockets, with no eyelids surrounding them. In place of eyelids, this form has silvery nictitating membranes, called anti-flash defensive membranes, that cover its eyes and protect them from harm. The arms are more developed than in previous forms, but are still very small and do not extend far beyond Godzilla's chest, which bears a prominent, axe-shaped pointed sternum. The legs are larger and more muscular, while Godzilla's feet bear numerous small vestigial toe claws growing from their tops and sides in addition to five main digits. Godzilla's flesh is covered in reddish scars and lesions that sometimes emit a reddish glow, which changes to purple when Godzilla charges his atomic breath. Godzilla's tail is very long, and has small spike-like dorsal plates running along its length. The tip of Godzilla's tail is red and bloody and covered in twisted mangled bones, which form a skeletal spare head (予備頭部 Yobi tobu) at the end.1314 Personality This version of Godzilla is somewhat passive and seemingly unaware of humanity at first, only causing destruction due to the cumbersome and clumsy nature of his earlier forms, then later as a result of his final form's size as he walks through Tokyo. Godzilla does not retaliate against the JSDF when they attack him, and seems to barely notice their assault. However, when American B-2 Stealth Bombers drop bunker buster bombs onto his back and actually injure him, Godzilla becomes enraged and immediately retaliates with his atomic breath, not only destroying the attacking forces but obliterating a huge part of Tokyo at the same time. When Godzilla is assaulted at the film's climax, he retaliates against the humans using his atomic breath and various beam attacks. Origins In Shin Godzilla, it is proposed that Godzilla is some kind of prehistoric sea creature that found itself surrounded by nuclear waste on the sea floor in the 1950's and rapidly adapted to withstand it. As the creature evolved and began feeding on radioactive material, it gradually grew over a period of 60 years before taking on a form able to come onto land. After coming ashore, the creature continued evolving and growing until it sprouted arms and began standing upright. An essay written by Goro Maki that is included in The Art of Shin Godzilla further discusses Godzilla's possible origin. The essay states that Godzilla's base form must have possessed large claws and fangs to be able to feed on the canisters of radioactive waste. It goes on to suggest that the creature must have spent its entire life underwater, and is "in all likelihood, closely related to prehistoric marine reptiles, which first emerged in the Paleozoic Era."15 History Reiwa Series Shin Godzilla When the Japanese coast guard investigated a small yacht floating in Tokyo Bay, it discovered that the craft was completely abandoned with no sign of a struggle or the owner's whereabouts. Suddenly, the water began to erupt and steam, causing the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line to collapse and become flooded by a strange red liquid. The Japanese government concluded that the disaster was due to an underwater volcanic eruption, but assistant cabinet secretary Rando Yaguchi proposed the incident was caused by a gigantic living creature. Yaguchi's claims were dismissed until a huge tail was seen breaking the ocean surface. The government assured the citizens that the creature would not surface, only for a giant monster to crawl out of the bay and into Tokyo. Stumbling around on its hind legs and pushing itself forward with its tail, the monster destroyed buildings and shoved cars and boats out of the way as it began to head inland. All the while, the creature secreted the red liquid from its gills and poured it onto the streets. The Prime Minister deployed a squadron of helicopters to attack the beast, but when they approached the monster suddenly stood up on two legs and sprouted arms. The attack was called off when the Prime Minister learned civilians were still evacuating the area, while the monster simply returned to the ocean. The Japanese government immediately began formulating strategies to deal with the monster should it return, while a representative of the American ambassador collaborated with a team of officials researching the monster. The representative, Kayoco Anne Patterson, revealed that the abandoned yacht actually belonged to a zoologist named Goro Maki, who was researching a huge living creature moving on the seafloor. The zoologist named the creature "Gojira" (呉爾羅), meaning "incarnation of God" in his hometown on Odo Island. The American Department of Energy learned of the man's research and dubbed the monster "Godzilla." Based on this information, the researchers concluded that Godzilla was feeding on nuclear waste on the seafloor, and sustained himself through nuclear fission in his body. The fission caused Godzilla to leave a trail of radiation in his wake, but also made him overheat and forced him to return to the ocean to cool off. Shortly afterward, Godzilla surfaced in Kamakura, now evolved into a new form twice as large as before. The JSDF scrambled its forces to engage Godzilla at a defense line next to the Tama River, with the Prime Minister finally giving the order to fire. Unfortunately, the JSDF's weaponry had absolutely no effect on Godzilla, who continued heading north toward Tokyo. The United States military offered to attack Godzilla instead, and after receiving the Prime Minister's approval deployed several B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers to Tokyo. The government concluded that their current meeting location was right in Godzilla's path of destruction, and as such the Prime Minister and his top-ranking ministers fled in a helicopter, with Yaguchi and the other lower-ranking officials escaping in cars. While the government officials fled Tokyo, the bombers unleashed their payload onto Godzilla, visibly injuring and enraging him. In response, Godzilla's body began glowing purple, and he unleashed a powerful atomic beam from his mouth, obliterating three districts of Tokyo and downing the helicopter holding the Prime Minister and the high-ranking government officials. After expending such a huge amount of energy, Godzilla stopped moving and entered a state of hibernation. With Godzilla incapacitated, American and Japanese forces began approaching and studying him. However, Godzilla's natural defense mechanisms interfered with their equipment if they got too close. At the same time, Yaguchi and the other members of his research team decoded the rest of Maki's research on Godzilla. The combined research led to the conclusion that Godzilla expelled so much radiation that he would be unable to move again for approximately fifteen days. It was also determined that Godzilla's cells were capable of converting air and water into a radioactive isotope that provided him with energy. Analysis of parts of Godzilla's flesh blasted off by the military's attack revealed that Godzilla's healing factor allowed pieces of him to continue evolving and take on lives of their own. In this scenario, Earth could be overrun by rapidly-evolving mutated creatures if Godzilla was not stopped. With this revelation, the American government decided that Godzilla had to be destroyed. The Americans gave the Japanese government a period of two weeks to evacuate Tokyo, after which it would drop a hydrogen bomb onto Godzilla and hopefully destroy him. The interim Prime Minister agreed with the plan and evacuation began. Yaguchi and the American representative, Patterson, disapproved of the plan to use nuclear force on Japanese soil and began developing an alternate strategy. Because it was discovered that Godzilla's blood and dorsal fins acted as a natural cooling system for his body, Yaguchi believed that a blood coagulant would interrupt Godzilla's blood cooling system, causing him to perform a reactor scram to stay alive and freeze solid. The Prime Minister agreed with the plan and convinced the French government to make the U.S., China and Russia to postpone the nuclear strike until the day Godzilla was to awaken. On the day Godzilla was to awaken, Yaguchi officially began Operation Yashiori, the name given to his plan to use blood coagulant against Godzilla. Trains laden with explosives were sent to strike Godzilla, causing him to awaken, after which waves of drones fired rockets at him and forced him to expend his atomic energy. Buildings around Godzilla were then detonated, pinning him to the ground. Using concrete pump trucks, the operatives force-fed Godzilla the blood coagulant, eventually causing his entire body to freeze over completely, leaving him in a state of suspended animation. The operation was declared a success, and the American nuclear strike was called off. Scientists concluded that the half-life of Godzilla's radiation was only 20 days, allowing Tokyo to recover quickly from the nuclear fallout. The Americans warned that if Godzilla were to reawaken, they would not hesitate to use the H-bomb against him. Yaguchi, meanwhile, expressed his desire to rebuild the Japanese government to be better prepared to combat Godzilla should he reawaken. As Godzilla stood frozen in the streets of Tokyo, several humanoid skeleton-like creatures with Godzilla's dorsal plates on their backs were seen sprouting from the end of his tail, reaching out to the sky. Abilities Radiation Heat Ray Shin Godzilla retains the character's trademark atomic breath. This Godzilla's signature weapon initially takes the form of a cloud of smoke exhaled from his mouth and then a stream of fire, called the Super Thermal Radiation Particle Belt Flame (超高熱放射性粒子帯焔 Chō Kōnetsu Hōshasei Ryūshi-tai Homura) or Thermal Flame (熱焔 Netsu Homura) for short, which is capable of burning through entire city blocks at high speed. From there, he focuses the fire into a narrow purple Radiation Heat Ray (放射熱線 Hōsha Nessen), which slices through buildings and strikes distant targets. When firing the heat ray, Godzilla's body emits a purple glow, which is concentrated around his dorsal fins. Godzilla's upper jaw then unhinges from his lower jaw, which splits apart to make room for the beam to be fired. After expending a lot of energy, Godzilla's beam weakened back to a stream of fire before petering out. Dorsal Plate Beams Shin Godzilla can also redirect his atomic energy to fire numerous purple beams from in between his dorsal fins. These beams are capable of destroying objects thousands of meters around Godzilla, and are comparable to his atomic breath in power. Tail Beam Shin Godzilla's atomic energy can also be redirected and fired from the tip of his tail. This beam is apparently fired from a mouth on the vestigial "spare head" at the end of Godzilla's tail. Unlike the dorsal plate beams, the tail beam can be fired at the same time as Godzilla's atomic breath, allowing him to strike multiple targets at once. Self-Mutation One of Godzilla's most unique abilities is his capacity to self-mutate. While all other organisms mutate and evolve gradually over countless generations, Godzilla has the ability to mutate his DNA at will to adapt to any situation. According to characters in the film, Godzilla is the most evolved creature on the planet, possessing eight times the genetic information of human beings. Godzilla started out as a type of prehistoric sea creature that adapted to feed on nuclear waste in its habitat, then continued growing and evolving over a period of 60 years. After destroying the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line, Godzilla evolved into his second form, developing legs capable of bringing him on land. After wandering through Tokyo, Godzilla evolved further into his third form, developing longer arms and standing upright on two legs. When he surfaced once more at Kamakura, Godzilla had reached his fourth form, which was almost twice as large as his third form and possessed heavily armored skin which made him immune to conventional human weaponry. After being injured by B-2 Bombers, Godzilla adapted to use the atomic energy he generated as a weapon, firing it from his mouth and dorsal fins in the form of purple lasers that could slice through any object. While hibernating in Tokyo, the mouth on the end of Godzilla's tail split open, giving him the ability to now fire his atomic beam from the tip of his tail. After Godzilla was frozen by blood coagulant, small humanoid creatures with Godzilla's teeth and dorsal plates, Godzilla's fifth form, could be seen fissioning from Godzilla's tail, suggesting that he was in the process of evolving into an army of human-like forms capable of combating humanity. Durability Like all versions of Godzilla, Shin Godzilla is extremely durable and resistant to most conventional weaponry. When assaulted by the JSDF's AH-64 Apache helicopters and Type 10 tanks, Godzilla did not seem at all aware of their attacks and was completely unharmed. Even bombs dropped directly onto Godzilla by fighter jets were unable to harm him, though he did respond to their attacks by deploying protective membranes over his eyes. The only military weapon capable of harming Godzilla was the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP II) bomb used against him by American B-2 bombers. Though this bomb did draw blood from Godzilla and sever one of his dorsal fins, he appeared to almost immediately heal from the damage. In addition, the dorsal plate that was severed was later found by a reconnaissance team in the process of regenerating on its own. The characters speculated that it was possible for individual pieces of Godzilla to regenerate into functioning creatures, allowing Godzilla to rapidly spread all over the world. Body Fluid Godzilla released a red superheated body fluid, presumably blood, when he first appeared in Tokyo Bay, and then in his second form on land through his gills. In a cut sequence, the third form expelled this fluid from his mouth, flooding the surrounding ground at his feet. The fluid melted the tires of cars. Anti-Flash Defensive Membrane When the JSDF dropped bombs on his head, Godzilla deployed silvery nictitating membranes to shield his eyes. He used them again when he first unleashed his Heat Ray. Phased-Array Radar Phased-Array Radar According to an American scientist, Godzilla possesses a "phased-array radar" which allows him to detect threats without even needing to see them. Godzilla utilized this to shoot down drones trying to observe him while he was hibernating. Weaknesses In his third form, the nuclear fission inside Godzilla's body generated such a large amount of heat that he needed to return to the ocean to cool down. The durability of Godzilla's fourth form is not limitless either, as he was visibly injured when struck by a Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb dropped by an American B-2 bomber. Godzilla also depletes his atomic energy when he uses his atomic breath. Once his energy was depleted after his attack on Tokyo, Godzilla entered a state of suspended animation lasting for 15 days in order to replenish it. When struck by multiple unmanned E231 and E233 Series trains laden with explosives, as well as when buildings were toppled onto him, Godzilla was knocked to the ground. While on the ground, Godzilla appears to have difficulty getting back up, which was critical during Operation Yashiori in allowing trucks to pump blood coagulant directly into Godzilla's mouth. After his experience with the Massive Ordnance Penetrators, Godzilla was overly cautious during Operation Yashiori, shooting down missiles far too weak to affect him. As a result, he didn't have enough energy left to destroy the concrete pump trucks which posed the real threat. The blood coagulant they carried interfered with the monster's blood flow, which served as the thermal control for his internal nuclear reactor. With no circulation and thus no nuclear reaction, he was forced to do a reactor scram which caused him to freeze solid. Filmography * Crayon Shin-chan (TV 1992-) 901 segment "It's Crayon Shin-Chan vs. Shin Godzilla!" * Shin Godzilla (2016) * Godziban (TV 2019-) 2, 4, 6, and 16; second form Video Games * Shin Godzilla VR Demo (2016) - PlayStation VR * Shin Arima (2016) - Browser * Pocoron Dungeons (2016) - Android and iOS * Eternal Linkage (2018) - Android and iOS * Godzilla Defense Force (2019) - Android and iOS In popular culture A Shin Godzilla statue was installed in Hibiya in 2018, with the previous statue of the Heisei Godzilla moved inside to Toho Cinemas Hibiya. This incarnation of Godzilla has become very popular thanks to the huge success of Shin Godzilla in Japan. Accordingly, Toho often uses this version of the character in their efforts to promote the franchise. He's been featured in: * A Universal Studios Japan attraction * A PlayStation VR demo, a browser game made in collaboration with the horse race Arima Kinen, the mobile games Eternal Linkage and Pocoron Dungeons * A Godzilla Store event with THE ALFEE frontman * The Aqua Panorama at Canal City Hakata * NHK's New Year's Eve countdown Godzilla's second form, nicknamed Kamata-kun, has become a popular meme among Godzilla fans worldwide for its strange and "cute" appearance.16 Roar Godzilla's first and second forms never roar in Shin Godzilla, but the third and fourth forms do. The third form utilizes Godzilla's roars from the original 1954 film, while his fourth form primarily uses Godzilla's roars from King Kong vs. Godzilla through Terror of Mechagodzilla in the Showa series. Just before being frozen at the film's climax, Godzilla's fourth form emits a roar from The Return of Godzilla. Godzilla's heat ray is the same as Destoroyah's Micro-Oxygen beam, while his thermal flame attack utilizes the Showa Godzilla's atomic breath sound effect. Though the filmmakers experimented with new sounds, they found they couldn't surpass the older ones.9 Trivia * One week before Shin Godzilla premiered in Japanese theaters, the Godzilla featured in the movie starred in an episode of the long-running anime Crayon Shin-chan, where he faced off against the titular Shinnosuke Nohara. In the episode, Godzilla had a more traditional, blue atomic breath. * Shin Godzilla's fourth form was the tallest incarnation of Godzilla to appear in a film at the time his debut film was released, but not the tallest Godzilla ever. The Hanna-Barbera Godzilla is a few meters taller, being exactly 400 feet tall. However, Shin Godzilla's fourth form was both the heaviest Godzilla, weighing 92,000 metric tons, and the longest, with a total body (head-to-tail) length of 333 meters. Shin Godzilla's height and weight were both exceeded by the Godzilla introduced in GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, who stands 300 meters tall and weighs 100,000 metric tons. The MonsterVerse Godzilla's height and weight were also increased in Godzilla: King of the Monsters to 119.8 meters and 99,634 tons, making him the largest live-action Godzilla to date. Notes # Jump up↑ Godzilla vs. Evangelion: The Real 4-D elects to approximate Godzilla's height to simply 120 meters. References This is a list of references for Godzilla/2016. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: 1